A conventional telecommunication device for the deaf/teletype (TDD/TTY) enables people who are hearing-impaired or deaf to communicate with other parties via standard telephone lines. For example, one way in which a deaf party may communicate with another party is if both parties use a TDD. In this case, a calling party may type using a standard keyboard included with the TDD and the called party reads the message on a display associated with his/her TDD. The called party may similarly type a message using his/her TDD and the calling party may read the message using his/her display.
A second way in which a hearing-impaired/deaf person may communicate via standard telephone lines is referred to as relay. In this case, a conference call is established between a first party, a communication assistant (CA) (also referred to as a relay operator) and a second party. The first party may be a deaf person who has a TDD/TTY and the second party may be a person with normal hearing who does not have a TDD/TTY device.
When the deaf party wishes to make a call, he/she dials a telephone number for the CA and tells the CA the telephone number to which he/she would like to be connected. The CA may dial the number and provide a greeting to the hearing party. When the hearing party speaks, the CA types what is said and the deaf party reads the text using the TDD/TTY's display. The deaf party may respond to the message on the display by typing on his/her TDD/TTY. The CA reads what is typed to the hearing party in a normal manner. In this manner, the deaf party may communicate with hearing and hearing-impaired parties over the public switched telephone network using conventional TDD/TTY equipment.
One problem with the communication methods described above is that a TDD/TTY is required in order for the hearing-impaired party to communicate. This may prevent the hearing-impaired party from being able to communicate with others at various times due to the lack of an available TDD/TTY device. For example, if the hearing-impaired party is not at home, the hearing-impaired party may not have access to a TDD/TTY device.
Another problem with the communication methods described above is that the CA must type what the hearing party says using a conventional keyboard and transmit the text to the hearing-impaired party. This is often a time consuming process that significantly slows down the “conversation” between the two parties.